The New York City Cheerleaders helped pump up the volume at the final event.

It was a classic match. Two great teams, the Latinos and the Emperors
battling for the championship in the middle of NYC on a gorgeous early autumn
day. The Latinos were defending their throne as last year's winners. The
Emperors, one of the City's most well known stickball teams, were determined
to make their presence felt and had entered several borough competitions in
order to secure their place. The players have competed many times before in
regular league play up in the Bronx. This time, the Emperors emerged
victoriously with a tough fought 1-0 win.

The day opened with the Longball competition, one of the Stickball Classic's
hallmark features. At each of the borough competitions, longball contestants
contributed $5 to the Police Athletic League for 5 chances to whack a
spaldeen. Winners of the preliminary rounds received a $25 gift certificate
and an invitation to compete for the Daily News' Grand Prize; a round trip to
Puerto Rico for the winner in the Longball finals.

A crowd quickly gathered to watch the power hitters show their stuff, or more
accurately knock the stuffing out of the ball. Although players seemed a bit
nervous at the attention, several 275+ foot shots were made. Bronx's champion
Joey Rodriguez was the clear winner with a towering blast of 315 feet.

The Stickball Classic's first Junior Exhibition immediately followed. Three
teams competed in this event, playing three inning games. The East Bronx
Bombers were favored to win, but the Little Rascals, a younger team composed
of the children of players from the Emperor's Stickball League prevailed.

The Bombers' showed their heart by competing against adult teams in several of
the borough competitions. However today their bats were cold, perhaps because
they were nervous by the size of the crowd. The Rascals picked up two runs
through the offensive power supplied by Victor Morales. When the Bombers did
threaten, the Rascal's three infielders Brittany Martinez, Reuben Santiago and
Skylar Mercado combined on strong defensive plays to stop the rally. After
defeating the Bombers 2-0, the Little Rascals went on to tie the Brooklyn All
Stars 1-1 to complete the Junior Exhibition play.

The day concluded with the main event, a showdown between two great teams, the
Latinos and the Emperors. The Latinos, last year's champions took the this
year's Bronx title back in early August. The Emperors, also based in the
Bronx were edged out in that event, but went on capture the Queens
competition.

As in last week's semi-finals, defense was the key in the final game. The
Emperors only run was scored in the third inning when Anthony Rosatto hit a
triple and was brought home by Carlos Diaz' sacrifice fly. Wayne Lippold made
a fantastic "Willie Mays like" over the head catch late in the game to quell
the Latinos potential rally and preserve the lead.

One run was all that was scored, but it was enough for the Emperors to defeat
last year's winners. Congratulations to the Bronx Emperors, the 2000 Stickball
Classic Champs.